Heritage Coast Campsite

From £30 For 1 night, 2 adults 9.3 69 reviews
Arriving (added by manager 18 Jan 2015)
Hot welsh breakfast baps made freshly to order (added by manager 27 feb 2013)
Pitches with sea view (added by manager 07 jul 2014)
Pitches (added by manager 12 mar 2024)

  • Peaceful site for families, couples and relaxed sorts
  • Well-priced café serving breakfasts, cream teas and off-licence sales
  • A 10-minute walk from Monknash beach
Sites with coast views, campfires allowed, a short stroll from the beach and an even shorter one to an award-winning pub should always get your holiday vote… add in an acclaimed café on site and a pub a couple of minutes' stroll down the road, and you'll likely hail Heritage Coast Campsite as a winner. Based in Glamorgan's Cowbridge and 10 minutes' walk from Monknash beach across public footpaths, the much-liked Heritage Coast comes with the Monks Rest Café, a recent venture from Phillipa, Glynn and team that dishes up breakfasts in the type of belly-busting size of which you might thoroughly approve. Cream teas, Friday night suppers, off-licence sales and properly-sized coffees/hot drinks are also on offer, all are at reasonable prices – and the café is quite arty and information-based too, with an art/photography gallery and heaps of leaflets and tourist info about the local area. Amenities include ladies' and gents' blocks each with two toilets, two showers, two sinks and a hand dryer, plus a hairdryer in the ladies'. Disabled bathroom facilities, a utility room with two basins (and hot water) and a freezer are also on site. Campfires are allowed if you want to sort your own nosh – ask Glyn or Philippa about hiring a fire basket – or you could have a meal at the award-winning Plough and Harrow pub two minutes' walk away where there's also live music on Saturday evenings. Whichever you decide, take time for sitting back as dusk falls to listen out for the hooting of the local owls: Heritage Coast Campsite is in a wildlife haven too...

Site type

Tent pitches 30
Opens 1 April

Tourist board rating

Please note
  • The site does not accept breeds/crossbreeds listed in the Dangerous Dogs Act (i.e. XL Bully, Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, and Fila Brasileiro).
  • Group bookings of 7 or more adults are not permitted (couples and immediate family members excepted).
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • A charge of £0.50 applies for the use of the shower.
  • The site caters for families (immediate members) and couples only - bookings from all other forms of groups are not accepted.

Languages spoken

English

Open from Mon, 1 Apr to

Reviews

97%

would recommend this site to a friend

99%

would stay here again

  • 69%
    10
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Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

First time camping and loved the site will definitely book again.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Amanda L. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Everything the owners and staff were really friendly the whole site was kept clean and tidy facilities were cleaned regularly. Food was very good too.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Quiet, friendly site with clean facilities

Overall 8/10
Location 8
Value for money 8
Accommodation No rating
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 6
Cleanliness 8
Wifi 6
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Very quiet and tranquil site with lovely surroundings. Phillipa is a very attentive, welcoming host. The toilet/shower blocks were very clean. Good restaurant/cafe onsite with small bar as well. Missed the entrance on the first two passes as expecting to see a larger campsite sign at the entrance rather than a smallish white sign. Rugged beach nearby about a 25 minute walk through nature reserve. Rocky path unsuitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs and those with less mobility. If you do make it, then the rock strata is spectacular. Internet OK but mobile phone signal not very good.

Disliked: Bit of a faff having to leave shower cubicle to insert 50p into the shower meter.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Clean, extremely talkative owners and staff, fantastic countryside.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
David L. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: There absolutely nothing not to like. I particulary liked the very friendly and chatty owners ethos to employ locals, use only locally sourced products and the fact that they are not in this business to extract every last penny. They live next door to the site and just want a comfortable living without over development of the site which by the way is gorgeous and just a few fields up from the wonderful Vale of Glamorgan coast line. In fact the lane to the site leads on down through an ancient coastal woodland to a tiny little known about secluded beach. The site is absolutely spotless and has a brilliant little on site cafe and licenced bar with great cooked breakfasts and drinks all at resonable prices. Pitch prices are also very reasonable. Oh and there is a great local village pub just up the road again with very friendly chatty locals.

Disliked: Nothing at all.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you, so pleased you enjoyed the campsite and local area, we all hope you will visit again soon

Facilities and location excellent!…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Hayleigh J. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Facilities and location excellent!

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great site for us, we will certainly come back again.

Overall 8/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Kate E. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: The peaceful site Facilities simple and well kept Friendly reception Lovely walk to the beach ( more than ten minutes though ! )

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you, we hope to see you in the future.

Wonderful Clean, Efficient and a lovely place to stay

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Simone B. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Wonderful area which we hadnt visited before, reminded me a lot of the Gower with the countryside. Not too far from the beach although we didn't visit it ourselves as we had days out planned. 30min drive to Cardiff Centre and 30min drive to Barry Island beach and amusement Park so even though the campsite was in a rural area it was still close enough to visit other places if needs be. If you don't fancy cooking you have takeaways etc in Llantwit Major which is a 10-15min drive (Big Sam's was a big thumbs up for us) Theres a lovely looking pub a stones throw away from the campsite (not sure if they do food) and also the site itself has a bar area and a lovely outdoor seating area. The campsite itself was immaculate, don't listen to the negative review.....(there's always one 🤣) It is well kept and looked after, not a piece of rubbish in sight as someone comes around regularly to check this, and sometimes take your bins for you too as they are very active with their recycling. There's 2 fields, one as you drive in which is a gravel car track with grass tent areas either side some electric some not, water taps all in close proximity too. And then if you go to the bottom of the gravel track there's a big field to allow for more non electric pitches. They've even had portaloos installed in the bottom field so that you don't have to walk all the way to the top to go to the loo (very thoughtful) and as far as portaloos go these were also kept clean and fully stocked with paper and sanitiser. All the staff are friendly and welcoming, highly recommend a breakfast at the main building where the bar is, they serve till 11am and have options for kids like pancakes and waffles, veggie breakfasts and a traditional fry up. There's a clean utility room where you can wash your dishes and even use a communal freezer.....again very thoughtful! Lots of little bits that you wouldn't expect but were available anyway like little shampoos in the shower and even a charging station where you can pay £1 to charge your phones (for the desperate teenagers 🤣) things I've never seen available at other campsites. *NOTE* You can hire big firepits for £4 a night which I highly recommend and the wood is £7 a bag which lasted us 2 nights but depends how much you use it. Your not allowed to take your own wood but the fire pit comes with a griddle too so it does double up as a barbecue which is handy and then you can enjoy some marshmallows around the fire for dessert 😍 If you prebook your fireplace and wood (get firelighters too) it will be there at your pitch when you arrive. All very efficient

Disliked: The ONLY thing that I didnt like and this is me being picky......the shower you have to pay 50p for 5 minutes which is fine but you don't know when your time is going to run out so let's say my conditioner doubled up as a leave in conditioner this weekend....on a plus my hairs lovely and smooth 🤣 When I was leaving I spoke to the owner to say thank you for everything and just mentioned the shower and she is aware of the issue and they are looking to upgrade soon so that's all good 👍 Again just me being picky or maybe a thought for the future.... It's a very dog friendly site, you can even take the dog inside the cafe but all dogs MUST be kept on a lead at all times....might be an idea to have a fenced off area or another field where dogs can run off lead at the owners risk? I'm not sure how that would work insurance wise and then maybe people may ruin that idea by not cleaning up after their dogs mess but a thought none the less 😊

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you, delighted to hear you enjoyed your visit and the local area. We agree your comments re showers and dogs, the showers will be upgraded over the winter. We welcome well behaved dogs and the condition is they are kept on a lead at all times while on site, unfortunately the minority spoil it for the majority. Thank you for your kind comments, we do hope to see you in the future.

Would visit again

Overall 10/10
Location 8
Value for money 8
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Stephen P. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Very nice site good shower and cafe also freezer for the ice packs if needed. lovely walks along the coast and over farm land. Lots of space to camp

Disliked: It was a 10 min drive to the nearest shop so take all you need if you don't want to drive off site

Recommend to friends Visit again

Beautiful! We will definitely be back very soon

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 8
Wifi 4
Suzanne D. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Beautiful location. Fabulous views. Lovely bar and cafe on site and all the staff were so helpful and welcoming. Good facilities too.

Disliked: Nothing

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you, lovely to hear you enjoyed the site and we look forward to welcoming you again soon.

Lovely site and , clean facilities

Overall 8/10
Location 8
Value for money 10
Accommodation 8
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Very friendly staff. Very clean facilities. Cafe onsite for breakfast, drinks and maybe evening meals (fish and chips I think at the weekend). Wifi was in the cafe area. Pub a few minutes' walk from the camp with a range of ciders and ales on tap. Great walks down to the beach with circular routes back to the camp possible. Stunning views along the cliff tops. Campfires available to hire along with logs at reasonable prices.

Disliked: Having to pay 50p for a shower that was alternating between freezing and boiling hot. There was no 4G in the fields but then again that could be a positive! 4 portaloos in the far field which could have done with changing more often.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Quiet site, but poor facilities

Overall 4/10
Location 8
Value for money 4
Accommodation 4
Facilities / Activities 4
Customer service 4
Child friendliness 4
Cleanliness 6
Wifi 4
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass tent, campervan or trailer tent pitch

Liked: Pub very close Walking on the beach nearby Beautiful scenery

Disliked: Poor showers (you'll get cold water if there's someone else showering at the same time) & you need to pay 50p for the privilege,. There are only 2 toilets and 2 showers for men and 2 for ladies +1 disabled. The portaloos in the field are really smelly. There's no phone signal and WiFi only near reception. The cafe/bar is very hit and miss, and expensive.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Naturally we are sorry to read your comments, particularly in respect of the 'Smelly Toilets' which we absolutely dispute, the portable toilets were emptied, sanitiser and deep cleaned by the hire company prior to your arrival, our groundsman checks and cleans am and pm daily, we would ask anyone reading this review to read others visitor reviews. Surprised also to read the comments regrading our Bar and Cafe being ' hit and miss', as we have numerous positive reviews and have just been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Food Guru 2022, That said, we aim to offer clients a consistent service, unfortunately in this case we did not succeed.


Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house

Cycle hire

Evening entertainment

Fishing

Fitness centre

Games room

Indoor swimming pool

Kids' club

On-site restaurant/cafe

Outdoor swimming pool

Play area

TV room

Take away

Tennis

Watersports

Amenities on site

Bath available

Car parking by pitch/unit

Composting toilet

Disabled facilities

Dog park

Drying room

Food shop

Free wifi

Ice pack freezing

Internet access

Launderette

Local produce

Parent & baby washroom

Pick-up from public transport

Portable toilet

Pub toilets

Public telephone

Shower available

Toilet block

Washing-up area

Wifi

Groups welcome

D. of E. welcome

Family friendly

Motorcycle friendly

Single-sex groups welcome

Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided

Barbecues allowed

Campfires allowed

Commercial vehicles allowed

Dogs allowed

Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Peaceful

Spectacular scenery

Walkers' paradise

Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities

Chemical disposal

Electric car charging point(s)

Gas cylinders available

Recycling available

Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby

Dog walk nearby

Nearby farmers' market

Public transport nearby

Shop nearby

Type

Medium (26-50 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Fishing nearby

Golf nearby

Horse riding nearby

Indoor pool nearby

Restaurant nearby

Surf school nearby

Watersports nearby

Location

Heritage Coast Campsite

Monknash

Cowbridge

Glamorgan

Wales

CF71 7QQ

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London GMT (GMT+00:00)

GPS

51.42255°N
-3.56043°W

Nearest transport

Coach
7.6 mi Sarn Odeon
15.4 mi The Parade
15.4 mi Bus Station
Rail
3.5 mi Llantwit Major Rail Station
5.9 mi Bridgend Rail Station
6.8 mi Wildmill Rail Station
Ferry
12.5 mi Barry Waterfront Ferry Terminal
14.9 mi Minehead Harbour
16.7 mi Channel View Waterbus Stop
Airport
9.7 mi Cardiff International Airport
25.2 mi Swansea Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

Coastal walks, beaches, museums, castles and outdoor activities are all around to get stuck into. If you want to stick to the coast – it's a heritage one after all – try out one of the local surf schools or some fishing nearby at Penarth Beach or Wick. The Glamorgan Heritage Coast runs for 14 miles from Porthcawl to Aberthawl and has some highly scenic walks as well as even more scenic horse rides to be had on its beaches. Ogmore Castle and Fonmon Castle are two nearby sites to sort some Welsh history (as is the excellent St Fagans National History Museum a short drive away in Cardiff), and the National Trust's Dyffryn Gardens will be a good day out for green-fingered types. Also nearby, look for the local karting centre, Taskforce Skirmish Paintball and a few rounds of Welsh golf; have a look through the Heritage Coast Campsite info leaflets to get you started.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020 2019 2018 2017
Southerndown 2.6 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Trecco Bay Porthcawl 6.5 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Sandy Bay Porthcawl 6.9 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Rest Bay Porthcawl 8.4 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent
Cold Knap Barry 11.6 mi Sea Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

St Fagans: National History Museum 13.1 mi

Castell Coch 15.5 mi

Millennium Stadium 16.8 mi

Cardiff Castle 16.9 mi

The Cardiff Story (opens April 1st 2011) 17 mi

National Trust

Holnicote Estate 15 mi

Watersmeet 17.3 mi

Dunster Working Watermill 17.4 mi

Dunster Castle 17.4 mi

Aberdulais Falls 20 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Nash Point - St Donat's - Marcross 1.2 mi

Nash Point - Glamorgan Heritage Coast - Cwm Nash 1.2 mi

Ogmore Down - Dunraven Bay - St Bride's Major 4.6 mi

Ogmore - Candleston - Merthyr Mawr 4.6 mi

Kenfig Pool - Kenfig Burrows - Sker Beach 9.6 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Want to know more about camping in Glamorgan?

  • Does Heritage Coast Campsite have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Heritage Coast Campsite dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Heritage Coast Campsite? Coastal walks, beaches, museums, castles and outdoor activities are all around to get stuck into. If you want to stick to the coast – it's a heritage one after all – try … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Heritage Coast Campsite?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  2 p.m. –  8 p.m.
    Depart by:  11 a.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Heritage Coast Campsite? From £30 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.